


crush

by oihinalovebot



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Hinata Shouyou Has ADHD, M/M, OiHina - Freeform, Seijoh!hinata, high school oihina
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29994894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oihinalovebot/pseuds/oihinalovebot
Summary: he wanted to go to karasuno and be the next tiny giant. he knew this like he knew that he needed air to breathe, like he knew that volleyball itself was his calling in life. so when his mother told him that under no circumstance would he be biking over the mountain every day, hinata wanted to spontaneously combust.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	1. one.

**Author's Note:**

> i've been staring at the word doc for this fic and not actually writing it so maybe i will write more if i know people are waiting for the next part lmao. anyway enjoy seijoh!hinata :) this fic was kind of inspired by crush by david archuleta idk

he had complained all morning as he got dressed in his aoba johsai uniform. while he didn't know what the karasuno uniform looked like, hinata knew that it was infinitely cooler. it had to be, because the tiny giant once wore it. 

"shoyo, hurry up!" his mother called from the kitchen. "you're going to miss the bus if you don't hurry."

"i'm coming!" he shouted back, struggling to properly lay his tie flat against his chest. he fussed with it for a few more seconds before officially giving up, deciding that he could deal with an extremely crooked tie. 

shoyo double-checked his appearance in the mirror before nodding and running out of his room and to the front door. natsu knocked him flat on his ass as she zipped by him, clearly excited for her first day of school. 

"natsu!" he cried out, taking a moment to assess the damage she'd caused. "watch where you're going!"

"i'm sorry!" she said, sounding as if she didn't have a care in the world. ( which, to be fair, she probably didn't care that she'd hurt him anyway. )

"shoyo, be nice to your sister." his mother reprimanded from the kitchen, obviously not bothering to check if he was even the catalyst in this situation.

rather than argue with his mother, hinata grumbled to himself as he tugged his shoes on, hurriedly tying the laces so he'd have a few extra seconds to grab his lunch. 

thankfully, his mom had tied the bento box with the plain blue cloth he'd picked out just last week. he was a first year in high school now; he couldn't be seen with the same yellow kitty cloth he'd been using in middle school. 

he grabbed it and his backpack without a second to spare, because his mom was ushering him out the door before he could even say goodbye. 

the walk to the bus stop wasn't a long one, and the logical part of him knew that his mother had a point in not letting him bike over the hill every day. still, he'd never say that to her face. despite knowing how much she cared, karasuno had just meant too much to him. a miracle would be her only shot at forgiveness so soon. 

as luck would have it, the bus was just down the street when shoyo arrived at the bus stop. 

"at least i'm not late." he said quietly, reaching up with his free hand to mess with his hair in an attempt to make it look more tamed than it actually was. 

when the bus rolled to a stop, hinata inhaled deeply and stepped onto it. his gaze drifted across the many passengers, and he ultimately decided to sit by two students in the aoba johsai uniform. upon closer inspection, he recognized the both of them from the game against kitagawa first last year. 

taking another deep breath, he approached them and sat down, silently hoping for the best. 

"hey!" onion head said, pointing at hinata as he looked at the other boy sitting next to him. "that's the shorty who pissed the king off last year!"

"how nice."

"i'm kindaichi," onion head grinned, holding out the hand he'd been pointing with. "and this is kunimi. i didn't know you were going to aoba johsai!"

"i'm hinata!" he replied, shaking kindaichi's hand with a bright smile of his own. "i was hoping for karasuno, but my mom decided for me."

"karasuno, huh?" kindaichi looked back over at kunimi. "didn't they used to be a powerhouse school?"

"i don't know." he replied, pulling his phone out of his pocket. he seemed to be uninterested, which hinata didn't understand at all. this was _volleyball_ they were talking about!

"the tiny giant was the reason why they were so good!" the ginger shouted, earning a few looks from the older passengers. "i want to be the next tiny giant!"

"well aoba johsai is a powerhouse school," kindaichi commented with a grin. "i'm sure you can be just as great there. and we'll get to crush the king, i'm sure."

"i don't know about crushing him." shoyo said thoughtfully. "but i do know that i want to defeat him, more than anyone else!"

* * *

the rest of the bus ride went on smoothly, for which hinata was grateful. kindaichi and kunimi had agreed to have lunch with him, and he felt much less nervous about his first day. unfortunately, he wasn't in the same class as either of them, but he supposed that he could make more friends, too.

as he made his way to homeroom, he noticed a crowd of girls swarming around a tall brunette. he was wearing a track jacket over his uniform, and shoyo silently wondered what sport he played. a guy as pretty as him had to play volleyball, he decided, nodding his head affirmatively at the thought. 

in his moment of spacing out and thinking about how absolutely _stunning_ this guy was, he wasn't watching where he was going. he felt like the biggest loser in the world when he bumped into a taller male, likely an upperclassman.

"i—i'm sorry!" hinata stammered, shaking in his shoes when the guy turned around. he had a volleyball in his hands, and a stern look on his face. 

"don't mind iwaizumi." someone else popped up from behind him, looking significantly less scary. "he's just in a bad mood because oikawa's flirting with his little fan club."

"i'm not in a bad mood!" iwaizumi snapped. "shut up matsukawa."

"aw, iwaizumi!" another guy teased. "are you jealous of the attention he gets?"

"as if i'd ever be jealous of shittykawa." he paused, noticing hinata's fixated gaze on the volleyball in his hands. "you thinking of joining the team?"

"huh?" shoyo asked, blinking a couple of times as his brain registered what had been said. "oh, yeah! i'm gonna be the next tiny giant!"

"didn't the tiny giant go to karasuno?" a voice he didn't recognize asked. the ginger turned to see who had spoken, and his knees nearly buckled at the sight. 

"y-yeah! but aoba johsai is a powerhouse school!" hinata said, quoting kindaichi's words from earlier. "if i want to improve, i can do it here!"

"i like your spunk, chibi-chan." the brunette said with a smile that made butterflies erupt in his belly despite how intimidated he was by these four upperclassmen. "what's your name?"

"uh, hinata!" he said a little too loudly, earning a chuckle from the tall male in front of him. 

"the name's oikawa; what class are you in? i'll wait up for you and make sure you get to the tryouts."

"i think i'm in class 1?"

oikawa laughed, and the butterflies were fluttering once again. 

"i'll be waiting for you, then." he winked before turning on his heel and walking away. iwaizumi, matsukawa, and the other guy he didn't catch the name of waved at him before following suit, snickering amongst themselves about oikawa and how he had taken a shine to the first year.

"what just happened?" 


	2. two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so chapter one was written in late december and i wrote this chapter like yesterday so vosnckskd god help me stay motivated 🤪 also i have adhd so i am very much projecting onto hinata in this fic but you cannot tell me that he doesnt have adhd because ???? he does

hinata genuinely zoned out for most of the morning. he didn't intend to, but adhd made it hard to focus on anything other than tryouts this afternoon. his tummy felt bubbly when he thought about how oikawa was going to wait up for him after classes let out for the day. 

was this what a crush felt like? shoyo had never had one before, unless you counted the silly little ones everyone had in preschool. he'd heard of having butterflies in your stomach; was that what this was? it almost felt like the excitement of spiking a volleyball, like _whoosh!_ it was nice.

"hinata, over here!" 

the ginger's lunch slipped from his fingers at the sound of kindaichi's voice, but he narrowly caught it before it clattered onto the floor. 

"hey guys!" he said as he made his way over to the table they were sitting at, grateful that his voice didn't crack.

"how were your classes?" kunimi asked in greeting, seeming to be genuinely interested. shoyo wished he had more to say. 

"uh, well." he started, hastily unwrapping his bento box. "i honestly don't remember much of them?"

"why does that not surprise me." kunimi replied before shifting his attention to his phone as he had this morning.

"don't mind him." kindaichi said with a roll of his eyes. "i didn't pay much attention to my classes either. i'm too excited for tryouts."

"me too!" hinata shouted, practically bouncing in his seat. 

"something tells me you're more excited about oikawa walking with you to the gym." kunimi's voice startled shoyo, because for a second, he'd kind of forgotten he was there.

"i—" he tried to respond, voice breaking.

"what'd i tell you?" 

"aw, hinata! do you have a crush on oikawa-senpai?" kindaichi asked, leaning forward in his seat as if it'd get hinata to answer faster.

"i, i don't think so? maybe? i've never had a crush before!" he exclaimed, though he was much quieter than he'd been when he was talking about volleyball.

"that's nothing to be ashamed about." kindaichi said, reaching across the table to gently pat hinata's shoulder. the gesture was surprisingly comforting, and he smiled sheepishly at the attention. 

"i've been too focused on volleyball to focus on crushes, i guess." shoyo admitted before taking a large bite of the food his mother had prepared for him. his eyes surveyed the cafeteria, and he nearly choked as his gaze settled on the table where the volleyball team was sitting. oikawa glanced over at him as if he knew he was being watched, and he winked at him with an impish grin before turning back to his own conversation. hinata had never wanted to be invisible more than he did at this very moment, because the blush creeping up his neck was more embarrassing than coming to school with a kitty cloth on his bento box. 

"kageyama was really pissed after the match against your team." kindaichi said, completely oblivious to hinata's internal panic. kunimi wasn't looking at his phone anymore, opting to eye the ginger warily instead. 

"why's that?" shoyo asked after swallowing his food, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "i knew he didn't like me, but we didn't do _that_ bad."

"yes, you did." kunimi said bluntly, squinting at hinata for a moment before taking a bite of his own lunch. 

"wow, thanks." he replied flatly, shoulders falling at the jab at his team's skills. he liked to think that he took criticism well, but he knew that that was nothing more than a fantasy. rejection always did hit him a little harder than it seemed to hit other people, and sometimes, it made him feel like even more of an outsider than he already was. 

"i dunno, that one guy was really good with his footwork." kindaichi said in an attempt to brighten hinata's mood. 

"oh, you mean kōji-san!" he exclaimed, seemingly bouncing right back into his excited self. the other two boys didn't comment on it. "he's a soccer player. he was only on the team so i could play."

"that's actually really cool." kunimi admitted, and for the first time since this morning, hinata felt much more comfortable in his new friends' presence.

* * *

the rest of the day went by much slower than the morning had, and hinata was sure that he'd have burnt out if not for his excitement for volleyball tryouts. the bell startled him out of his thoughts, however random they may have been. he really struggled to stay focused, even in his own thoughts. 

volleyball was the only thing on his mind right now though, and he hurriedly packed his things in an attempt to be the first student out the door. apparently, he still hadn't been fast enough, because the other students were whispering about an upperclassman walking toward the classroom. 

shoyo's heart nearly dropped to his stomach, a strange mix of anticipation and anxiety bubbling up in his chest. in his haste to finish packing up, he'd forgotten that oikawa was going to walk with him to the gym. 

as if he knew that someone was thinking about him, the brunette poked his head into the classroom with the same sly grin he'd flashed at hinata earlier.

"chibi-chan, you're taking forever!" he said by way of greeting, waving at him as he leaned against the doorframe. the other first years still in the room whispered amongst themselves, and shoyo wanted the floor to swallow him whole. 

_what were they saying about him? was it something bad? did he mess up? was he not cool enough to walk with oikawa? what if he—_

"hinata?" oikawa asked, raising an eyebrow as he now stood in front of hinata's desk. 

"when did you get there?" the ginger asked out loud before he could stop himself, his eyes wide as he looked up at the brunette. 

"five seconds ago, when you ignored my greeting." oikawa said with a pout, tilting his head toward the door. "why don't we get out of here and head to the gym?"

"uh, yeah. okay." hinata answered, grateful that the subject had been changed. he pushed past the upperclassman and exited the classroom, holding his head high as the whispers continued. 

"what was that about?" oikawa asked as he easily caught up to him. 

"what was what about?" he replied, opting to play dumb. the longer he could pretend that he was normal, the better. people always looked at him differently when they found out he had adhd, as if the revelation meant that he was stupid. 

"you know exactly what i'm talking about, chibi-chan." oikawa said, slinging his arm around hinata's shoulders. something told him that this was the brunette's way of making sure he couldn't escape this conversation. 

he was silent as he stared down at his shoes, trying to figure out the right words to say. if he talked like an idiot, then surely oikawa would think he was an idiot, too. 

"do you think having adhd is a bad thing?" shoyo blurted, heat rising in his cheeks as an embarrassed blush spread across the bridge of his nose. 

"no, i don't think it is." oikawa responded, much quicker than hinata had been expecting. "i've met lots of people who have it. they aren't weird because of it."

he must have visibly brightened up at oikawa's answer, because the brunette only smiled down at him. 

"were you afraid that i was going to judge you?"

"a little bit." hinata admitted shyly, lifting his gaze to look up at oikawa as they walked. "i dunno, a lot of people think that i'm stupid when they find out."

"well, they're the stupid ones." oikawa said definitively, making no effort to remove his arm from it's place around hinata's shoulders. surprisingly, he was okay with the contact. 

"thank you." shoyo whispered, the butterflies from earlier making another sudden appearance. this time, they seemed to be fluttering even crazier and faster, like _whoa!_ and _whoosh!_

"for what, chibi-chan?" 

"for listening." 

"i'm your senpai, i'm supposed to be here and listen." oikawa grinned, looking ahead as the gym came into view. 

"oi, shittykawa!" iwaizumi shouted from his spot by the doors. "you're late!"

"sorry, iwa-chan!" the brunette replied, removing his arm from around hinata's shoulders. 

the butterflies were still there, though now it felt like they were falling instead of flying. shoyo had never been the type of person who enjoyed a lot of contact; he preferred his space, but for some reason, having oikawa's attention felt so much nicer than he'd expected it to. 

"c'mon chibi-chan! let's go get warmed up!" oikawa said with a smile, holding his hand out for hinata to take. he hesitantly held the brunette's hand, trying very hard to seem calm and collected. 

there was no denying it now; hinata shoyo had a crush. and the thought terrified him.


	3. three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this very quickly but i am very happy at the rate i am writing these chapters bc it makes me feel good. that being said, i played volleyball for six years and i had to look up what the line judges were called 💀 my adhd brain literally does not work
> 
> me 🤝 hinata shoyo

the aoba johsai gym was much bigger than hinata had expected. he blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust to the bright lights, grateful that oikawa was still holding his hand to guide him inside. 

"what do you think, chibi-chan?"

"i'll let you know when i stop seeing spots." shoyo deadpanned, earning a laugh from oikawa and iwaizumi. 

"hey, it's that little first year from before!" the same voice from this morning greeted, though hinata didn't remember if this was matsukawa or the other guy whose name he didn't catch.

"aw, our captain walked him to the gym." the other one added, clearly trying to get under the captain's skin. 

"thank you, mattsun and makki, for your riveting commentary." oikawa said sarcastically, rolling his eyes dramatically. the action made shoyo giggle before he could stop himself, and he didn't miss the way the brunette's eyes lit up at the sound. 

"hey hinata!" kindaichi shouted across the gym, waving enthusiastically from his spot on the bleachers. he and kunimi had saved hinata a seat, and his heart swelled with happiness—they'd included him! 

"oika-senpai, i'm gonna go sit with my friends!" shoyo exclaimed, squeezing oikawa's hand before rushing off to sit with his friends. in his haste, he missed the blush that steadily creeped up the upperclassman's neck at the honorific. 

"damn shittykawa, you've got it bad." iwaizumi said with a laugh, patting his friend's shoulder before making his way to the bleachers as well. 

* * *

"to start things off, i'm going to let oikawa and iwaizumi pick their team members for a practice match to assess your skills." coach irihata said after clapping to get everyone's attention. "they each can choose one other third year for their team, but the other spots will be filled by those trying out. from there, i will have a meeting with the team to discuss who will be joining."

"when your name is called, iwa-chan and i will give you your practice jersey, so you can go change in the locker room." oikawa told them, and that was when hinata noticed that both third years were standing next to boxes. "and since i'm everyone's favorite captain—"

"that's debatable."

"shut up mattsun. i'm choosing first, and i choose makki because you're an ass."

"sweet." hanamaki jumped off of his spot on the bleachers, digging through the box next to oikawa to grab his jersey. 

"and i choose matsukawa." iwaizumi said, motioning for the third year to hurry up and get his jersey as well.

hinata sat nervously as other players were chosen before him, and he wondered if he would even get chosen at all. he'd honestly expected oikawa to pick him first due to the somewhat special treatment he'd received this afternoon, but that sounded dumb and unfair the more that he thought about it.

"and finally, i choose chibi-chan!" the captain's voice pulled hinata from his thoughts before he could overthink further, and he found himself breathing a sigh of relief as he climbed down the bleachers.

"nice, we're on the same team!" kindaichi whispered as iwaizumi chose his last team member, enthusiastically high-fiving hinata once he returned from changing into a t-shirt and shorts.

"we're gonna win!" shoyo replied in kind, smiling brightly as he tugged on the lime green practice jersey over his shirt. "we're on the captain's team, after all."

"he's also the team's official setter, so we have the advantage."

"iwa-chan's team has the backup setter, because there aren't many guys trying out this year." oikawa said, looking down at his nails as he filed them. "but don't underestimate yahaba. he's pretty good when he's not being annoying."

"you have five minutes to talk strategy with your team, and then we're starting the match." coach irihata announced as whispers among the athletes rippled across the gym like a mighty wave. 

"okay, we're going to go over this fast, so everyone listen up." the captain turned to his team and held up his hands. "i use hand gestures to silently let my team know who i'm setting to, and you'll need to memorize them if you have any intention of making this team."

hinata had never played with a real setter before, and he sincerely hoped that he could remember oikawa's signals. he didn't want to be the idiot that messed everything up because of his awful memory. kindaichi must have picked up on his nervous energy, because he simply smiled and gave him a thumbs up. the gesture was comforting, and hinata was able to listen to oikawa's intructions much more confidently because of it. 

"okay, everyone into positions!" the coach called out as he climbed up to stand in the referee's position. "i will be the referee of this game, while yuda and shido will be the line judges. have i made myself clear?"

"yes coach!" everyone shouted, anticipation for the match changing the room's atmosphere very quickly. 

"alright, good. iwaizumi, oikawa, come flip the coin to see who starts."

while they did that, hinata's eyes wandered to iwaizumi's team. the only first year he recognized was kunimi, and he was momentarily saddened that his new friend wasn't on the same team as kindaichi and him. 

"iwaizumi's team is serving." coach irihata blew the whistle once everyone was in position. oikawa stood at the right side hitter position, likely so he would be the next to serve. hinata stood front and center, with kindaichi to his left. ( and as much as he wanted to pay attention to everyone else, it was hard when he didn't know their names. )

being in the front row was much scarier than it had been in middle school, even though kageyama had been absolutely terrifying. matsukawa was taller and he had more experience, and something told hinata that iwaizumi had placed the middle blocker to the opposite of him on purpose. 

"chibi-chan, pay attention!" oikawa snapped, as kunimi easily served the ball over the net. 

"i'm sorry!" hinata squeaked, blinking a couple of times to refocus his attention. volleyball was his first love, but even the things he really enjoyed were never spared from his inability to properly focus. 

"got it!" a voice from the back row shouted, and ball soared in a shaky path to oikawa. 

"not bad!" the captain complimented, setting the ball to kindaichi on the opposite side of the court. shoyo watched as his friend spiked the ball nearly perfectly, the ball slamming on the other side of the net. 

"nice kill, kindaichi!" oikawa exclaimed as their team rotated. he looked comfortable in the serving position, flashing a smile at the first years he was playing with. he caught the ball as it was tossed to him, winking at the final third year from this morning—hanamaki, if hinata's memory didn't fail him as usual.

the coach blew the whistle again, and oikawa's serve ripped through the air not a moment after. it barreled past iwaizumi's team, and landed heavily along the boundary line. shoyo stared at the line judge as he held out the flag, glancing at the coach to see what it meant. 

coach irihata smiled around the whistle and lifted his arm in the green team's direction.

"nice serve, oikawa-senpai!" kindaichi exclaimed, and the other first years on their team followed suit. 

"that serve was amazing!" hinata shouted, nearly jumping into the air with excitement. "it was like _whoosh!"_

"thank you, chibi-chan." oikawa said smugly, clearly proud of himself for impressing him. 

"that was even better than kageyama's serve!" the ginger continued, looking up at the captain with stars in his eyes. "and if he's the king, then that makes you the grand king!"

"grand king, huh?" the brunette asked with a laugh, catching the ball as it was thrown to him. he smiled at shoyo as the whistle blew again, and the first year turned to face the net before he got yelled at by the coach. 

oikawa served the ball once more, though it seemed that iwaizumi was prepared for another monstrous serve, because he was right there to receive it. the pass was the prettiest that hinata had ever seen, and yahaba set it to one of the first years with ease. 

he spiked the ball over, and hinata glanced over his shoulder to see who was going to hit it on his team. one of the other first years attempted to pass it smoothly, but it was clear that he'd messed up when the ball went backwards. 

"i've got it!" oikawa shouted, running toward the ball in an attempt to save it. he dove for it, hitting it with one hand to send it back to a place where someone could spike it. the trajectory was off, and it was like everyone knew that no one would be able to get it. 

shoyo was sprinting across the court before anyone could blink, even faster than when he'd played in middle school. the ball was _so close_ —he was nearly there. jumping up high, hinata closed his eyes and spiked the volleyball as hard as he could. the sound of it slapping against his palm echoed across the gym, followed by the slam of it hitting the floor. 

he dared to open his eyes as everyone fell silent, his gaze immediately settling on the line judge. he held the flag in the same position as earlier, when oikawa had served. so that meant—

"it was in!" hinata shouted, turning toward kindaichi with a grin so wide that his eyes crinkled. 

"hinata, that was amazing!" iwaizumi complimented, ducking under the net. "i've never seen anyone run that fast."

as the rest of the guys started to compliment him, shoyo turned to oikawa for his opinion, too. 

"oika-senpai?" he whispered, eyes widening in horror as he took in the captain's appearance. his knee was bent in a funny way, and he was biting his lip as if he was trying not to make a sound. 

"oika-senpai." hinata repeated, pushing past everyone to run to him. his amazing save didn't matter anymore, not if oikawa was hurt.

"coach." iwaizumi said shakily as his gaze followed hinata's movement. "it's his knee again."


	4. four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk what happened to the real jack bc i have been writing nonstop. i think i might be hyperfixating on this fanfic lmao

hinata's throat felt tight as he knelt down next to oikawa, absentmindedly holding his hand out for him to take. the setter's brown eyes met his own, tears pooling along his waterline and slowly spilling over. oikawa took his hand, though, interlacing their fingers as he lifted his chin to keep more tears from sliding down his cheeks. 

"hey, shittykawa." iwaizumi's voice was soft as he took a seat on the floor next to his best friend. "coach irihata went to get the school nurse, okay?"

oikawa silently nodded, taking a deep breath and exhaling through his nose. his grip on hinata's hand tightened, and he tried not to grimace.

"okay everyone, we'll reschedule tryouts for a later date," matsukawa said to the rest of the first years, glancing at oikawa for a moment. "you all can get changed and head home for the day. one of the coaches will contact you with more information."

"there's more than one coach?" shoyo asked as everyone else headed to the locker room. to his surprise, oikawa let out a little chuckle; it was more like a hum, but the sound relaxed hinata immensely.

"yeah, coach irihata is just the main coach." iwaizumi answered, laying down on his back to look up at the ceiling. matsukawa and hanamaki also stayed behind, taking a seat on the floor. 

"so, that was a crazy jump." hanamaki said, crossing his legs and resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at hinata. "you can't be more than 5'4, and yet you just... jumped."

"honestly, i don't remember being able to do that when i was younger." shoyo admitted, ears burning with a blush at the attention. "i only started playing volleyball in middle school."

"really? what middle school did you go to?" matsukawa asked, once again shifting his gaze to oikawa. the brunette's eyes were closed as he slowly eased his jaw out of it's locked position. 

"oh, i went to yukigaoka junior high." hinata replied, worriedly glancing at the captain. he'd only met oikawa today, but he already felt a connection to him. it was a little scary when he thought about how quickly he took to his upperclassman. he was normally so careful about making friends; it hurt too much when people decided that you were no longer worth their time. 

he was cautiously optimistic about his newfound friendship with kindaichi and kunimi, though. they were scary during the game back in middle school, but shoyo wondered if they were only so scary because they were part of a team. ( and part of kageyama's team, no less. ) he'd never had a real team before, not really. he loved kōji and izumi, and he loved practicing with the girls' team, but he didn't really _belong_. 

maybe oikawa made him feel like he belonged. 

"hinata!" iwaizumi shouted, startling the ginger back to reality. 

"sorry," he said sheepishly, realizing that he'd been silently staring at oikawa for the last few minutes. "i didn't mean to zone out."

"don't worry about it," hanamaki waved it off with a smile that was surprisingly comforting. "we were just curious about your experience with volleyball, is all."

"oh, well, i only played in one official game." shoyo admitted, his focus momentarily shifting to kindaichi and kunimi as they exited the locker room. "our opponents were kitagawa first, and they beat us pretty badly."

"that'd explain why you compared my serve to kageyama's." oikawa's voice was a little shaky as he spoke, but he effectively gathered everyone's undivided attention. 

"he was so awful." hinata said glumly, his shoulders slumping at the memory.

"that doesn't surprise me." the setter muttered, earning a smack to his hand from iwaizumi. "ow, iwa-chan! i'm already injured!"

"that doesn't mean you get to talk shit." 

"god, fine. but i'm still allowed to say that i don't like prodigies." oikawa said as he gently tightened his grip on hinata's hand, avoiding his best friend's gaze. 

"i still don't understand what your deal with him is." matsukawa yawned, leaning his head onto hanamaki's shoulder. 

"oh, look!" the captain happily pointed at the gym entrance with his free hand. "it's coach irihata and the nurse! and look, she brought me a wheelchair."

shoyo was confused by what had just happened, but he didn't comment on it to avoid making a fool of himself. oikawa squeezed his hand once again, and hinata quickly realized that he needed to let go so iwaizumi could help the brunette to his feet. he did so reluctantly, since he'd already gotten so comfortable with the physical contact. it made the butterflies go _bwah!!!_

"oh, and chibi-chan?" oikawa said as iwaizumi and the couch helped him into the wheelchair. 

"yeah?"

"you definitely made the team, so go on and celebrate. your friends are waiting for you."

 _"thank you, thank you, thank you!"_ the happiness he felt in the moment was overwhelming, and he rushed forward to hug the setter with all of his strength. 

"get well soon, oika-senpai!" he shouted with a grin, before letting go and sprinting over to kindaichi and kunimi. "guys! i made the team!"

* * *

"i still can't believe oikawa-san told you that you made the team without even talking to coach irihata!" kindaichi exclaimed as the three of them stepped onto the bus to head home. thankfully, there were enough open seats so they could sit together.

"you've already said that seven times." kunimi commented as he played a game on his phone, only half listening to the conversation. 

"well, i just can't believe it, okay? hinata just gets all the luck!"

"how am i lucky?" shoyo asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned back from looking out the window. 

"the captain has a crush on you." kunimi said bluntly, lips curling into a slight smile as he glanced up and caught the blush on hinata's face. "wow, you're almost as red as your hair."

"c'mon kunimi, stop teasing him." kindaichi told him, though it was clear that he was holding back a laugh. "...but you do have a point."

"guys!" hinata whined, pouting at the two of them as they snickered. "can we not talk about oika-senpai?"

"we can not talk about him after i make fun of you for giving him a special nickname."

"kunimi!" shoyo groaned, throwing his head back and accidentally thunking it against the window. "ow!"

"i'm kidding."

"okay, changing the conversation," kindaichi held his hand out. "give me your phone so i can type in my number."

as he rubbed the sore spot on his head, hinata pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to kindaichi.

"normally, kunimi and i have a sleepover to celebrate the first week of school. i want you to come."

"really?" shoyo exclaimed, momentarily forgetting about the throbbing in his skull. "are you sure?"

"of course! we're friends now." kindaichi smiled, giving hinata his phone back after typing in his number. "and since kunimi's on his phone, i'll text you his number later."

"awesome! do you want me to text you right now so you have mine?" the ginger asked, already opening up his contact list to send a message.

"yeah, that'd be great." kindaichi said, pulling his own phone out so he could save hinata's number. "oh, and we can make a group chat!"

"that would be so cool! are you okay with that, kunimi?" shoyo smiled brightly, his gaze shifting to his friend sitting on the other side of him.

"whatever."

"that's his way of saying yes."


End file.
